 
|
Dec. 30, 2004 PHILADELPHIA, PA - The University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) women's basketball team returned to action playing in only its second game in the last three weeks as they fell to Temple University in the final contest of 2004, 77-53. Temple (7-3), who is the defending champion of the Atlantic-10 conference, was led by junior Candice Dupree, who was recently named the Big 5 Player of the Week, as she scored a season-high 27 points and grabbed 9 rebounds. Dupree, who on the season averages 14.8 points and 9.6 rebounds per contest, reached her per game scoring average in the first 14 minutes of the game. The Lady Hawks (2-8) played a very balanced game as Ashley Chase (Baltimore, MD/Paul Lawrence Dunbar H.S), Kristi Veltkamp (Lansing, MI/Lansing Home School) and Toni Kennedy (Baltimore, MD/Grayson County College) reached double-figures. Chase had a team-high 11 points, while Kennedy and Veltkamp scored 10 each. Veltkamp's 10 points tied her career-high mark. Erica Bennett (Panama City, FL/Jacksonville C.C.) added nine points and Daynese Stowe (Philadelphia, PA/Florida C.C.) contributed eight to the Lady Hawk scoring attack. In the first five minutes of the game the maroon and gray took a 13-8 advantage after falling behind 4-0, as Veltkamp scored six early points and pulled down three rebounds. Temple immediately responded with a 16-0 run, of which Dupree scored seven straight to start the run and back-to-back-to-back three-pointers by the Owls capped the run. Trailing, 24-13 the Lady Hawks traded baskets with the Owls as the lead remained in double-figures at 30-20 with just over nine minutes remaining in the half.
The Owls, who lost to #1 Tennessee on the road by only four points earlier this season, tired to close out the half very strong as the were able to extend the lead to as many as 17. However, the Lady Hawks, who have shown their ability to fight no matter what the situation is on the scoreboard, closed the deficit back down to 13 as they were only outscored 17-15 following that 16-0 run midway through the opening half.
Leading 41-28 at the start of the second half, the Owls quickly extended its lead to a 29 points as Dupree reached the 20-point mark on back-to-back three-point plays in the midst of the Owls second 16-0 run of the game to give Temple a 57-28 advantage. With a comfortable lead, Temple continued to push to ball, but again UMES refused to give in even as the deficit reached a game-high 34 points at 68-34. The maroon and gold put together a solid 16-6 run with just over two minutes remaining in the contest. However, the large lead was just too much to overcome as the Owls closed out the game exchanging buckets with the Lady Hawks and maintaining the 24-point advantage with the final score of 77-53. The loss is the third straight for the Lady Hawks and drops them to 1-5 on the road and 1-7 in non-conference action. UMES will return to action in 2005 with a pair of two-game road trips against Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opponents. The first is a trip to Florida where the Lady Hawks will face Florida A&M on January 8th and then Bethune-Cookman on January 10th. A week later, the maroon and gray will travel to Virginia to face Hampton on January 17th and then Norfolk State on January 19th. |
|||||||||
| ||||||||||
